1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus used for locating and supporting a surgical instrument to enable a surgeon flexibility in performing a surgical procedure at the surgical site and, more particularly, to an apparatus adapted to movably connect the surgical instrument to a stationary member, such as a rib retractor, which is already being used in the procedure.
2. Background Art
Atherosclerosis or coronary artery disease is among the most common and serious health problems today. Surgical correction of occluded or stenosed coronary arteries via bypass grafting through conventional approaches, such as the sternotomy, are probably the most common procedure currently used, especially where multiple bypass grafts are needed. Conventional bypass graft surgery requires that the heart be stopped and the patient placed on a heart/lung bypass machine, which occurs at considerable expense and risk to the patient.
In an effort to reduce the expense, risk, and trauma to the patient, physicians have recently used minimally invasive surgical approaches to operate on the heart, such as intercostal and endoscopic access to the surgical site. In recent years interventional techniques, such as percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTCA), have gained popularity. The transluminal approach is a minimally invasive technique which occurs on a beating heart, thus eliminating the expense and risk of stopping the heart, circumventing the heart/lung bypass machine, and decreasing patient recovery time.
Prior to the present invention, attempts at performing minimally invasive bypass grafting on a beating heart have been hindered by the lack of adequate access through a reduced surgical field. Space is very limited, particularly for minimally invasive procedures. Overcoming this drawback better enables minimally invasive bypass grafting to be performed, thus avoiding the associated problems with conventional bypass graft surgery.